


Always Do Your Research

by orphan_account



Category: Original Work
Genre: Accidental Soulbonding, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-28
Updated: 2015-09-28
Packaged: 2018-04-23 20:54:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,455
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4891924
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the cutthroat world of thievery, you were often working against several thieves vying for the same target.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Always Do Your Research

**Author's Note:**

  * For [BatchSan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BatchSan/gifts).



In the cutthroat world of thievery, you were often working against several thieves vying for the same target. Claudette knew her search for the new, mysterious pendant being kept in the museum was bound to be difficult. The news of this pendant being housed there had spread like wildfire through the black market community so chances were high that Claudette wouldn’t be the only one trying to get it.

Claudette wanted to get the pendant as soon as possible but also needed to bide her time. Breaking in the day it arrived would be foolish and something an inexperienced thief would do. With seven years under her belt, it would be embarrassing for Claudette to be considered as such.

Breaking into the heavily guarded museum was a challenge but not one Claudette wasn’t up for. The pendant was held in an area not open to a public and still not available for viewing. If everything went according to plan the pendant would never be viewed by the public.

“Claudette, fancy seeing you here. Don’t you think this job is a little too risky for you considering your last attempt was disaster?”

In the other entrance to the room stood Noelle, wearing one of her usual bright outfits. It wasn’t practical but looked great on Noelle. Claudette’s pale complexion wouldn’t quite work with such a bright color while Noelle’s darker one would. However, Claudette would always think they weren’t very practical in their business.

Claudette preferred her simple, dark clothes with her short black hair tucked underneath a beanie. It drew less attention.

Out of all the other thieves, Noelle was one worthy of being her rival. Still, Claudette didn’t want to run into her because this had the possibility of being a pretty big catch for her.

“I guess you don’t remember that Sylvie thwarted both of our attempts to leave with the money and took off with it on her own. The only thing Sylvie left us with was the ringing in our ears as a result of listening to her high pitched, obnoxious laughter for a minute and a half.”

Noelle threw her head back and laughed, causing a few of her dark brown curls to break free of her messy bun. “God, that woman’s laughter will haunt me until the day I die.”

It was easy to lose herself in Noelle’s laugh, which was much more tolerable than Sylvie’s laugh. However, now was not the time to lose herself in either Noelle’s laugh or those deep brown eyes.

She cleared her throat. “What were you saying?”

“Ah, yes fancy seeing you here. I see you’ve come to steal my pendant?” Noelle asked, easily slipping back into rival mode.

Noelle had a few inches on Claudette so it wasn’t hard for her to appear intimidating. 

“You mean mine.”

The fun and games were over as the air shifted into something tense and less friendly. Claudette bolted towards the pendant, grateful she had disabled the security system before breaking into the museum.

In Noelle’s mind, Claudette had probably done her a favor.

When both their hands landed on the strange looking pendant, it seemed like a cruel twist of fate. Claudette tugged and Noelle repeated the action.

“So this is how it’s going to be?” Noelle sighed. “I was sure I could beat you over here, too. These new shoes were a mistake to wear.”

“You should’ve broke them in first.”

Claudette gave a rather firm tug on the pendant but Noelle refused to loosen her grip. She tugged harder the second time as a look of frustration flashed across Claudette’s face. Clearly this wasn’t going to be settled the easy way.

A kick aimed at her leg was easily dodged and so was the punch that followed. When Noelle finally landed a blow, Claudette did as well. They both let go of the pendant, which caused it to fall off the stand and onto the floor.

All went silent, neither moving until Claudette decided enough was enough. She dove for it, her fingers clutching desperately at the pendant. Noelle had a better grip though. Claudette didn’t know how much longer she could hold onto it.

“Let go, Claudette. This one is mine-- face it.”

“No, you let go.”

They glared at each other and a shout of “Let go!” in unison followed. It was at that point Claudette started to feel weird. A strange feeling took over her body, nearly causing Claudette to double over. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Noelle going through the same thing but she recovered a second earlier then she did.

This was the only reason Noelle was able to get away with the item. However, the once she left Claudette discovered this was the least of her problems.

A sick feeling came over Claudette the second Noelle fled. She was barely able to get herself home and the second she burst into her apartment, Claudette collapsed onto the floor.

The floor was where Claudette slept until a banging at her door forced her awake.

“Claudette, open the door! It’s Noelle!”

“Noelle?” she called out hoarsely. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“In pain just like you are from the sounds of it. Would you open the door?”

Claudette felt the pain lessening as she got closer to the door. Actually, it started to fade the second after Noelle’s voice reached her ears. She unlocked the door for Noelle who pushed her way inside, nearly knocking Claudette over in the process.

“What the hell, Noelle?” Claudette’s pain was just a distant memory now. It had all disappeared and was if it never happened. “Why are you here?”

She huffed. “Trust me it wasn’t my first idea to come here. I’d rather be off selling this pendant to the highest bidder but the second I left I felt this intense pain. You felt it too, right?”

“Literally knocked me off me feet.”

“I could barely make my way here but the odd thing is that the closer I got the less pain I felt.” Noelle muttered.

“That’s usually the opposite of how I feel towards you. You always manage to give me a headache.” It was only half true. Claudette enjoyed Noelle’s company-- well when she wasn’t stealing things right out from under her.

The only response Noelle gave her was a frustrated glare.

“This is a fucked up situation, Claudette. It’s nothing to joke about,” Noelle snapped. “I don’t know what is going on but it has to do with this pendant. Do you know anything about it?”

Claudette jumped on her computer, typing in the name her sources had given her. “I don’t know anything but the name. Shouldn’t be hard to find some more information on it, though.”

“You didn’t think to do research?”

“Did you?”

Noelle looked away.

She continued her research, eventually coming across something about the pendant. Her eyes scanned over the text but it didn’t bring Claudette any comfort. Instead it just made her feel more confused and anxious.

“Claudette, what did you find?”

“Well, it says here that this pendant was used for bonding ceremonies. The two individuals wanting to form a soulbond would place their hands on it and the utterance of spoken words would activate the pendant and form the lasting bond.”

Noelle rubbed her temples. “What words?”

“It just says the words have to be spoken at the same time.”

“Shit, Claudette we both said ‘let go’ remember?”

Claudette rolled her eyes. “Noelle, this is all pretty unnerving and weird but you can’t actually believed we formed a soulbond with each other.”

She narrowed her eyes. “Keep reading. Is it normal to feel pain?”

Reluctantly, Claudette kept reading the page. She eventually came to a section that explained what was going on. “A newly formed bond is very fragile so soulbonded mates must stay in close proximity to each other for a few weeks in order for their souls to heal after the joining. After that is is safe for the soulbonded mates to temporarily part.”

“So you still think this is total bullshit?” Noelle hissed, running a hand through hair in frustration.

God knows Claudette wanted to think it was bullshit. A soulbond sounded like something out of a fantasy novel or a fantasy AU! fanfic. The evidence was piling up, though. If Claudette kept denying it, she was going to look very foolish.

“I want to,” Claudette admitted. “What are we going to do?”

Noelle threw herself onto Claudette’s couch as if she owned the thing. She didn’t answer for a few minutes. Probably was trying to gather her thoughts-- not that Claudette blamed her. This situation was something beyond comprehension. “Ride this out for a few weeks until we can figure out a way to undo this.”

“You mean stay here?”

“My place is pretty small so probably be more comfortable for the both of us if we stay here.”

Claudette didn’t get any sleep that night. She spent the time trying to figure out how a bond would have formed in the first place. Wouldn’t they need to be compatible in some way?

Halfway through her research, Claudette fell asleep at her desk. She only woke up because of she smelled something delicious coming in the direction of her kitchen.

“Want some breakfast?” Noelle called out.

She groaned. “Going to need it before I get back to doing any more researching. My brain is fried.”

The food was delicious. Noelle was a much better cook than her, and selfishly Claudette thought she would enjoy the next few weeks for just that reason. Her own cooking was abysmal.

Noelle laughed. “You don’t cook much, do you?”

“Try never.”

“What do you usually eat then?”

“Take away,” Claudette admitted.

“Hope it’s good take away.”

“It is! Though I wouldn’t recommend week old pizza unless you don’t have access to anything else.”

The expression on Noelle’s face turned from amusement into slightly horrified. “While I’m staying here you're not eating week old pizza. I’ll tie you to the bed if I have to to   
prevent you from eating it.”

Claudette had to bite back a retort about not minding if Noelle tied her to the bed in any capacity. These thoughts were better left unsaid. While Claudette was long aware of her attraction to Noelle, nothing could come of it because they were rivals. The two of them couldn’t very well be rivals if they were romantically involved.

It would make it extra complicated.

The next day Claudette tried to put some distance between them but it was hard when they were staying in the same apartment. Plus, Noelle kept tempting her with that delicious food of hers.

“We should try to find a new target or something,” Noelle said over dessert. It was the best dessert Claudette ever had. She could confidently say that.

“Work together?”

“Well, I don’t see how we can do it separately with this soulbond. Is that a problem?”

Claudette hesitated. “It’s not-- I’ve just always worked alone.”

“I think most of us in the business work alone too.” The expression Noelle’s face told Claudette she felt the exact same way.

“Guess it wouldn’t hurt to try?”

This time Claudette was making sure she researched the new item they planned on grabbing. Claudette felt nervous doing a classic money robbery seemed like the best option. At least their would be no risk of accidental soulbonding.

Working with Noelle was a entirely different situation and almost eliminating her title of rival. Part of Noelle didn’t want to accept the change because a good rivalry could be therapeutic as well as drive Claudette further towards success.

“Ready?” Noelle asked as they approached the bank. There was a confident smirk playing on her lips. She nudged Claudette who couldn’t help but mirror the smile.

It was infectious.

Lucky for them no one else was planning to hit the bank on that day. They came back with a decent amount of money that might cover the costs of the failed attempt just a few days before.

Dealing with a soulbond was becoming easier and easier but it didn’t mean Claudette accepted the change in relationship completely. It was too new for her to do that yet.

“Hey Claudette want me to make some pizza?” Noelle shouted from the kitchen once they had gotten all settled into her apartment for the night.

“Victory pizza?” Claudette tried to stop herself from saying that. She winced at her words, trying not to look in Noelle’s direction.

Claudette must’ve been blushing. Ducking her head probably made it pretty obvious to Noelle but at that point she didn’t care. Anything to hide from Noelle that she was blushing

“Victory pizza it is.”

The victory pizza was delicious. “Is it ridiculous that I want to just stare at it for awhile? It looks so fucking good.”

Noelle smirked. “Not ridiculous as long as you don’t become a foodie.”

“Wait, what’s a foodie?”

“Never mind.”

Claudette really wasn’t sure if she wanted to know or not.

~*~

Living with Noelle was a difficult adjustment but worth it. It had been a long time since Claudette lived with someone. Actually, she hadn’t lived with someone since leaving home.

The adjustment was quick because despite labeling her as a rival, Claudette did get along with Noelle. She was an enjoyable person to be around. Claudette always thought that but she had to get it through her head that Noelle was her rival. Feelings like this would only impede on their rivalry.

Before the soulbond, Claudette could keep her feelings in check but now she was a mess. It wouldn’t be long before she blurted something out or acted irrationally. This was probably why Claudette couldn’t control herself and kissed Noelle one morning. She tried to break the kiss. Noelle wouldn’t let her pull away, though.

“Your my rival,” Claudette muttered, trying to ignore the way the kiss made her feel.

“What?”

“We’re rivals. It’s a friendly rivalry but still is one.”

Noelle laughed. It sent shivers down Claudette’s spine. “Claudette, we’re not in a fucking Pokemon game. This is real life but even if we are rivals in a sense, there is no reason why we can’t make out.”

“I want more then making out,” Claudette admitted and it was nice to finally get it off her chest.

“Me too-- I just wasn’t sure if you wanted it too or not.”

Laughing, Claudette pulled Noelle down for another kiss. The other woman pressed her against her kitchen counter, a hand slipping underneath her shirt.

“Wait, Noelle what about the bond?”

“We’ll figure it out later.”

Claudette was more then happy to agree.


End file.
